


A Very Fine Weapon

by elistaire



Category: Queen of Swords
Genre: F/M, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Pre-Het, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-22
Updated: 2011-03-22
Packaged: 2017-10-17 04:56:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/173128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elistaire/pseuds/elistaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dr. Helm comes to check on Marta's wounded hand, and Marta takes a deep look.  Montoya, as usual, gets himself in the mix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Very Fine Weapon

The doctor had very kindly come to the hacienda to check on how Marta’s hand was healing. It was doing very well, healing cleanly and quickly, and there would only be the faintest white of scar tissue to remind her of the night she had crushed a glass in her hand to keep her mistress’s secrets. Of course, Dr. Helm thought she was just a clumsy servant, but it was a fine gesture on his part that he came to check on her.

Marta hadn’t really needed his attention. She had used her own knowledge and some special herbs to keep her hand from becoming infected, and to speed the healing process. It was not a hardship, however, to have the doctor’s gentle hands cradling her own, and his intent eyes peering at her.

“No pain?” he asked, and Marta shook her head. His hands were warm and dry, and she loved the feel of them against her own skin. “You’ve got to be careful,” he added in an earnest tone. “These small things can become big problems if not properly cared for.” He nodded to himself. “I should come back next week, or you may stop by my office. Just to check your hand again.”

Was it Marta’s imagination or was the doctor lingering over her? Could there be something else besides this genuine concern he seemed to have for all of Santa Elena’s residents?

Marta looked deeply into his eyes—

And the door crashed open.

“Really, Colonel,” Tessa was saying in her highest strung voice as she preceded Colonel Montoya with a flounce of her skirt. “I’m not harboring anyone here.”

Colonel Montoya stomped into the room. “I shall see for myself,” he said. He paused to glare around and his gaze caught Marta and Dr. Helm. His look darkened and his mouth tightened.

If Marta hadn’t already been looking for secrets in Robert Helm’s eyes, she would have missed the one flashing in Montoya’s.

Montoya’s nostrils flared ever so faintly and when he blinked, the deepest longing in his eyes was caged back where it had come. But Marta had seen.

“See, Colonel?” Tessa said. “Unless you thought we were harboring Dr. Helm?” She flashed a quick wink at Marta, and gave a silvery laugh for Montoya’s benefit to show she thought she had been witty. Marta had to admire her mistress—-she played her part perfectly.

Colonel Montoya just grunted and dismissed them all with a wave of his hand. He gave a last look at Dr. Helm, a slight narrowing of the eyes that Marta had once mistaken for distrust and distaste, but now she knew better, and he left. Next to her, Marta could hear Dr. Helm snort. Certainly, things were not reciprocated, she decided.

Marta smiled. Something to add to the Queen’s arsenal against Montoya, and a very fine weapon it would make someday.

“You’re very pretty when you smile,” Dr. Helm said to her as he packed his bag, ready to depart.

Marta smiled even more broadly. “It’s because I have something to smile about that makes me look so,” she said, and Dr. Helm gave her a studied look and a tip of his head before saying his goodbyes.

Yes, Marta thought, now she knew a lot of things much better than she had known them a short time ago.


End file.
